Xining Special Steel: Major shareholder unpledges stake, employee plan winding down

Xining Special Steel Co., Ltd. reported that its major shareholder, Wuhu Xinzehai Industrial Investment Partnership, has released 150,000,000 pledged shares. This represents 31.50% of Wuhu Xinzehai's total holdings and 4.61% of the company's total share capital.

Following this release, Wuhu Xinzehai, along with its concerted parties including Qinghai State-owned Assets Investment Management Co., Ltd., now collectively have 100,000,000 shares pledged. This represents 14.57% of their total holdings and 3.07% of the company's total share capital.

Separately, Xining Special Steel also provided an update on its first employee stock ownership plan, which is set to expire on November 22, 2026. This plan, which initially acquired 3,899,000 shares for CNY 5.76 per share, has been extended multiple times since its inception in 2016.

As of the current announcement, the employee stock ownership plan has sold 2,546,260 shares, representing 0.08% of the company's total share capital. The plan currently holds 1,352,740 shares, or 0.04% of the total share capital, and plans to sell its remaining shares before the expiration date, subject to market rules and regulatory blackout periods.